The water-related traits of flowers are more conservative than those of leaves for epiphytic and terrestrial species in <i>Cymbidium</i>, Orchidaceae.

ABSTRACT: Epiphytes occupy arboreal niches in forest ecosystems, which are particularly vulnerable to drought stress due to the absence of a buffered substrate for water retention in epiphytic habitats. Characterizing the differences and relationships among plant morphological and physiological traits is critical for elucidating different adaptive strategies. However, it is still unclear whether there are differences in floral and leaf morphological and physiological traits between epiphytic and terrestrial plants, and whether there is a correlation between flower and leaf traits in epiphytes. Here, we measured 13 floral traits and 8 leaf traits from 7 terrestrial and 12 epiphytic Cymbidium species. We found that, compared with these terrestrial Cymbidium species, epiphytic species had

SUBMITTER: Zhang FP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12268501 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature